Perfect Paradise, Tearing at the Seams
by Pineapple Moon
Summary: Jess and Oliver have officially left the honeymoon stage as lies and mistrust start to crop up, and with Rory and Emily as witnesses to boot. Part 12


"**And if you never know who you can trust,**

**Then trust me you'll be lonely."**

**-Hey Look Ma, I Made It by Panic! At The Disco**

**Title from Bad Liar by Imagine Dragons**

**"So look me in the eyes, **  
**Tell me what you see, **  
**Perfect paradise, **  
**Tearing at the seams, **  
**I wish I could escape it, **  
**I don't want to fake it, **  
**I wish I could erase it, **  
**Make your heart believe, **

**But I'm a bad liar"**

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For the next few weeks, Jess successfully manages to stay under the radar from everyone. Luke is too busy researching restaurants for Nicole to notice Jess and his new club at school, Chuck is officially leaving him alone now, thank _God,_ and Rory finally got off his back about telling Luke or Oliver about the stupid kiss with Chuck. Things are good.

The GSA club ended up being more popular than he expected. Rory had been a big help getting all the paperwork the school required filled out. He's never even _been _to a club after school, let alone started one. He actually had to make an appointment with the principal so that he can sign off on the proposal, which had been slightly awkward, but turned out better than he thought it would. The principal had been so glad to see him willingly participating in an extracurricular activity that he had barely glanced at the proposal that him and Rory had painstakingly worked on before signing off on it.

Now the only thing that would be the metaphorical cherry on top was if he wasn't stuck working a Saturday morning shift at the Inn. Rory was originally scheduled to work, but is at home sleeping since she was in Boston until about three in the morning for the birth of her baby half sister. Lorelai would be home sleeping as well, letting Michel run things, but there was a plumbing issue that could only be signed off by her.

Lorelai finishes off her fifth cup of coffee, sighing. When that doesn't get a response from him she sighs louder.

"My God, fine, Woman, here." He hands over his own cup, getting her to perk up instantly.

"You are an angel." She grins at him, gripping his mug with both hands.

He rolls his eyes as he continues to sort some paperwork at the front desk. "Great, I'll be sure to have my tombstone say as much."

She takes a sip, her grin quickly being replaced with a frown. "Sweet Mary Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, what did I just drink?"

Jess presses his lips together, trying to keep a straight face. "My coffee."

"No, I know coffee. I live coffee. I _breathe_ coffee. I'm the coffee connoisseur. _This"_ She holds his mug up for emphasis. "is not coffee."

"It _is_ coffee. Sookie makes it for me, she adds hot chocolate to it." He takes back his mug, taking a sip.

"Ugh, why would she ever make such a frankenstein hybrid in the first place? You have a secret sweet tooth you've been keeping from us or something?" He stays silent, which is pretty much a verbal confirmation in Lorelai's book. She gasps. "No way, you do, don't you."

He keeps his attention focused down on the papers. "Shut up."

"How did I not know this before? Do you have a secret candy stash you have to keep hidden from Luke? Is it under your bed?"

Jess keeps his head down. "I'm ignoring you now."

"Fine, keep your secret. I'll find out one way or another." She goes back to work, finally leaving him alone. "Oh, hey, Oliver."

Jess' head shoots up. "Shit," He winces. "I forgot to call you."

"I noticed, when I showed up to the diner and Luke said you were working here this morning." Oliver walks up to the counter, not looking happy.

"Sorry." He apologizes right away. "This was all last minute, I had to cover Rory's shift since she was in Boston yesterday."

"It's fine." Oliver says in a tight voice. "It would have been nicer to know _before_ I drove all the way out here…" He mumbles.

"You know, Jess, you only have two hours left and things are slow, why don't you head on out early." Lorelai cuts in.

"For real?" Luke never lets him cut out early. Although that might be more in part that he will just leave instead of asking to leave.

"Go. Before I change my mind. And don't forget your disgusting coffee." Lorelai turns to Oliver as Jess is grabbing his stuff from where he stored it under the counter. "Did you know about his sweet tooth?"

Jess' protest of 'Hey!' gets ignored by the two.

"I learned the hard way. Don't share a bag of trail mix with him."

"Noted."

"Okay! Enough, I'm ready to go." Jess cuts the two off, coming around the counter. "Oh, almost forgot," He gives Oliver a quick kiss in greeting. "Hi."

Oliver finally untenses, giving him a small smile in return. "Hi. But don't think that makes up for you not calling."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Jess grabs his coffee, wrapping his other arm around Oliver's shoulders. He gives Lorelai a small nod in thanks, which she returns with a wink.

"Why do your spawn get to come and go as they please, while I am stuck picking up the slack?" Jess hears Michel ask Lorelai in his snooty french accent.

"You can leave whenever you want, Michel. Just head right out that door and straight to the unemployment office."

Jess and Oliver share a grin as they listen to Michel huff and stomp off. Right as they're about to leave, the door opens in front of them and they come face to face with Emily. Oliver goes stiff, probably recognizing her as one of the Hartford elite. A little uncomfortable himself, Jess drops his arm, stepping out of the way. Things between him and Emily have improved greatly since their bonding time in the kitchen a month or so ago, but Jess still can't ever get himself to relax completely around her.

"Jess, hello. Isn't this a surprise." At least she looks genuinely happy to see him as opposed to how she used to just tolerate his presence. "And Oliver, look how tall you've gotten. When's the last time I saw you, five years ago?"

Oliver nods. "About that. It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Gilmore." Jess snorts at that, causing Oliver to elbow him in the ribs.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Lorelai rushes in, saving Jess from having to say anything more than the small greeting he exchanged with her.

"Lorelai, perfect, you were in such a rush to leave last night that you forgot this. I was in the area, so I thought I'd return it to you." Emily hands Lorelai a scarf.

"Thanks…" Lorelai takes the scarf back, suspicion lacing her voice. "That's sure nice you of."

"What? A mother can't do her daughter a simple favor of returning something without there being an ulterior motive?"

Lorelai sighs. "No, of course. Thank you, mother."

"You know, it's funny. I was just thinking about how Jess hasn't been over for dinner in some time, and as if by fate, here he is."

"Ah, there it is." Lorelai looks up, talking to herself.

"It's kismet." Jess says, hoping this isn't going where he thinks it is.

"Yes, I suppose it is. How about this, next Friday you and Oliver here should join us for dinner. Richard will still be out of town, and it's as they say, while the cat's away, the mice will play." Yup, as Lorelai so eloquently put it, there it is.

Jess sucks in a breath, trying to think up an excuse and sound as sincere as possible. "Jeez, I don't know, I think Luke has me working that night, and we're both pretty busy with the end of senior year coming up and all."

"No, Luke gave you Friday off this week. I was just talking to him about it." Oliver speaks up, oblivious to Lorelai's abort motions behind Emily's back. "It will be great to catch up with you again, Mrs. Gilmore."

Emily lets out a small laugh, waving her hand. "Please, call me Emily. Now, I'd love to stay and chat more, but I must be going." She turns back to Lorelai, who freezes, throwing her arms back down by her side. "Lorelai, are you having some sort of fit?"

"No, um, fly. Shoo, shoo fly." She waves her arms a few more times, swatting at an imaginary bug.

"Yes, well, perhaps you should invest in some fly paper."

"Great, thanks for the tip, Mom. You better get going, I don't want to keep you from your errands." Lorelai practically ushers Emily out the door.

"Yes, of course. I'll see you all next Friday."

Jess gives a fake smile. "We'll be there with bells on." The second Emily leaves he drops the smile and turns to Oliver with a frown, just as Lorelai closes the door and does the same.

"What the hell, kid? Didn't you see my signal, it was like I was landing a freakin' airliner there."

Jess squints at his innocent look. "That was payback for me not calling this morning, wasn't it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He keeps up the innocent act, but Jess can see a hint of a smirk on his face. Jess has to remember not to seriously piss him off if this is how he enacts revenge for something tiny like forgetting to call one time.

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That night, Jess is closing up downstairs alone while Luke is out on some date with Nicole again. Technically, Caesar is supposed to help him close up if Luke is gone, but he was able to talk the man into leaving an hour ago after the kitchen was closed. He's eighteen years old for christ's sake, he doesn't need some babysitter as he refills napkin dispensers and ketchup bottles. What, is Jason going to pay him a visit with a chainsaw and hockey mask? Although, now that he thinks about it, Kirk sure would fit the bill as Stars Hollow's very own Jason Voorhees.

Just as he laughs to himself at the comparison, he hears a low thud outside the door, causing him to jump and drop a stack of napkins on the floor.

"Damn it." He mutters, bending down to collect the fallen napkins and putting them in a haphazard pile on the counter. He hears another thud, this time louder, and sighs. He had closed the blinds on the door earlier, per Luke's instructions, so now he can't see who it is until he opens the door. It's probably Kirk again, that guy seriously needs to learn to read a closed sign.

He marches over, swinging the door open and ready to chew Kirk a new one, when he groans and averts his eyes at who is definitely _not_ Kirk. "Ah, jeez!"

Luke and Nicole pull away like shrapnel. "Jess, what are you doing?" Luke snaps at him.

Jess clears his throat, looking up but still not meeting their gazes. "There was a noise, I thought it was Kirk. My mistake. I'll close the door and let you two kids get back to it."

"Oh no, there's nothing to get back to." Nicole speaks up quickly.

"Yup, we were just saying goodnight. So, night." Luke says this time, giving her one last quick kiss.

"Night. It was nice seeing you Jess." She waves weakly at him before fleeing for her car.

Jess steps to the side, letting an embarrassed Luke in. "So, I'm assuming your date went well."

"Shut up."

"At the very least you seemed to be enjoying the end there."

"Where's Caesar?" Luke asks, officially ignoring him now.

Jess shrugs, getting back to work putting the napkins in the dispenser. "Probably at home. I let him leave an hour ago."

Luke sighs, coming around to the other side of the counter and snatches the dispenser out of his hand. "Jess, we've talked about this. I don't want you closing the place by yourself."

Jess reaches across the counter and snatches the dispenser back. "And _I've_ told you I can handle it. I'm not a little kid that needs to be watched 24/7."

"I know that, but what if there's an emergency?"

"Is there a huge crime wave about to hit Stars Hollow that I'm not aware of? Small town diners the new at risk spot?"

Luke shakes his head, obviously not in the mood. "Does it physically pain you not to be sarcastic?" He asks instead as he starts flipping chairs up on the tables.

"Not as much as walking in on you making out with Nicole. Pardon me as I go wash my eyes out with bleach." He can go the rest of his life without seeing that again, thank you very much.

"Next time I'll send a telegram in advance. Or maybe we can take classes on Morse code and I can knock a warning to you." Jess rolls his eyes, focusing back on the napkins. Luke pats him on the back with a chuckle as he passes, finishing up with the chairs. He starts sorting through the receipts next, the two working in a comfortable silence. "So," Luke starts a conversation up again as he gets to the end of the stack of receipts. "Lorelai came in for lunch and told me about your Friday night plans."

Jess groans. Do those two seriously not have anything better to talk about than him? "I tried to get out of it, but Emily cornered Oliver and I at the Inn. And since Oliver was feeling vindictive because I forgot to call this morning that I had a shift at the Inn, he took it into his own hands to accept the invitation for the both of us."

Luke leans his forearms on the counter. "Well, he did drive all the way out here, only to find out you made other plans. That probably didn't make him feel too good."

"It was one mistake." Jess growls, trying to keep his temper in check. "Lorelai called me at _five_ this morning asking if I could fill in last minute. I was tired and not thinking. I even apologized and everything to him. If he still had a problem, he should have told me, not accepted an invite to something he _knows_ I don't want to go to just to get back at me." The more he thinks about it, the more it's pissing him off. He's human, he's allowed to make mistakes and not have to defend himself to everyone. "You know what," He stands sharply. "I don't even know why I'm having this conversation with you. I'm tired, I'm going to bed."

He hears Luke call out for him to wait, but he continues on, not in the mood to listen to Luke's 'think of it from both sides' lecture.

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Jess is reading on his favorite bench across the street from Luke's when a shadow is cast over the page he's reading. Glancing up, he finds Rory standing over him as she fiddles with the ends of her hair.

"Yes?" He asks, not having a good feeling about this.

"Okay, so, you have to promise not to be mad and remember that I'm just the messenger."

Jess groans, snapping his book shut, taking a centering breath as he takes his glasses off and puts them away. "So who _will_ I be mad at?"

"Mom's going out of town next week with Alex and won't be able to make it to Friday night dinner." She lets out all at once.

He hates it when he's right. "Rory…" There is no way he wants to deal with Emily without Lorelai there to jump in and deflect at a moments notice.

She holds up a finger, cutting him off. "No! No being mad at me, I told you I'm just the messenger. And… and I'll be there! Don't forget that."

A thought occurs to him. "Are you making sure I don't bail, so you don't have to go to dinner alone?"

Rory scoffs. "What? No! No, of course not." Jess stares at her, causing her to fidget. "Okay, fine! Please, I don't want to spend two hours alone with Grandma. I love her, but no."

He clears his throat. "I don't know, I think I might be coming down with something."

"I'll take all the morning weekend shifts at the Inn for a month. Please."

"Two months."

"Six weeks."

"Deal."

Rory sighs in relief. "Yes, thank you!"

Jess gets up from the bench, tucking his book under one of his arms as he sticks his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, whatever, but I'm holding you to your end of the bargain. I hate dealing with Saturday morning tourists who are showing up after a red-eye flight, so they're tired and cranky when I tell them their room isn't ready, making _me_ tired and cranky, and it's all one vicious cycle."

Rory pats him on the arm as they walk down the sidewalk. "Poor baby."

"I mean seriously, use your heads people. Why book a red-eye flight when it's almost universal knowledge that rooms aren't ready until four pm. And then they yell at me, like I'm going to somehow make the room be ready faster. Idiots."

"I know." Rory humors him, having already heard this rant from him before.

"Rory, Jess, get in here." They both freeze, turning to Miss Patty who is sticking her head out from her dance studio.

"Um, we were just-" Rory speaks for the two of them.

"Get in here, now. No questions, come on." She gestures to the two of them.

"I guess." Rory shrugs at him, heading up the steps.

Nothing good can come of this, but Jess' morbid curiosity is winning out at the moment so he follows Rory in after a second's hesitation. They both enter the dark dance studio, Miss Patty shutting the door behind them. The stage is lit up and there is a sparse audience, all of which look bored out of their minds. Great, at this rate he should have just stayed inside all day.

Dean gives them a small wave from near the back, where two seats are open. Jess bites back a groan when he spots Chuck at the end of Dean's row, looking half asleep. Rory must spot him as well, since she darts for the seat next to Dean. With a roll of his eyes, he takes the seat between her and Chuck, hoping whatever torture fest they just walked into isn't going to take too long. At least he still has his book with him.

"Okay, now, for those of you who just arrived, I'm trying out some material for my one-woman show and I need some feedback." Patty announces from the stage.

"Here's some feedback, shove your one-woman show up your-" Jess starts to mutter under his breath before Rory cuts him off with an elbow to the ribs. Hard. "Ow."

She shushes him, sending a glare his way.

Patty continues on, ignorant to the interruption in the back. "You are my randomly picked audience."

"Randomly shanghaied." Dean mutters this time.

As Patty goes on about the show, Jess leans over to Rory. "So, I talk and you hit me, _Dean_ talks and nothing? How is that fair?" He whispers to her.

"Life's not fair, build a bridge and get over it. Now shush, I'm trying to listen."

"Why? It's not like there's going to be a test on this."

"Zip it! Or I'm gonna elbow you again."

"Fine." Jess crosses his arms, letting his book balance in his lap. "But for the record, I'm not being quiet because you told me to. You just have really bony elbows."

Rory answers him with another elbow to the ribs.

"-The working title, 'Buckle up, I'm Patty'." Miss Patty finishes her speech with a flourish.

Rory turns to Dean. "How long have you been here?" She whispers.

Jess wants to argue how she can talk, but he can't, but he's curious about the answer too. "An hour."

"Poor thing."

"It's been two for me." Chuck pipes up for the first time, stretching his legs out and yawning.

All three turn in shock. "Why have you not ditched this thing already?" Jess asks for them.

Chuck shrugs. "It's either this or clean out the garage. Here I get to nap."

Jess nods in understanding. Settling into his seat, he opens his book and starts to read over the sounds of Patty and Kirk arguing, who by Dean's information is the director of this train wreck.

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Oliver parks outside Doose's as Rory runs in to grab some forgotten snacks for Lane's band. They're testing some new lineup and asked Jess, Rory, and himself to give it a listen and say if it's good or needs a bit more tweaking.

Wanting to stretch his legs a little after the drive from Chilton, he gets out of the car as well and walks around. He'd go inside, but Mr. Doose always gives him judgemental stares since day one. He's always been nice and polite to the man, but he's probably always going to be guilty by association since he thinks Jess is Lucifer himself.

Noticing a flier, he goes over to read it as he waits for Rory to finish paying. Stars Hollow has some of the most hilarious fliers, they're usually worth the read. As he reads on though, he finds it less funny and more confusing.

"Okay, I got snacks galore!" Rory announces, coming out of the market.

"Yeah, alright." As Rory stores the bags in the car, he tears down the flier, quickly stuffing it into his back pocket.

It's a quick drive to Rory's place and they park to find the band already there, and Jess as well helping them set up. Lane runs over, greeting Rory and helping with the snacks before the guys see them and dig in. Jess comes over as well at a slower pace.

Before Jess can say anything, Oliver speaks up first. "Can I talk to you about something? In private, that is?"

Jess seems a little confused, but nods. "Yeah, sure. Lead the way."

They go onto the porch, away from Dave and the others, and sit on the small couch.

Oliver suddenly feels very nervous as Jess gestures for him to go ahead, not sure how to start. "What did you do yesterday?"

Jess only looks more confused, but answers the question. "I went to school, finished reading _Catch-22 _for about the hundredth time, then worked the dinner shift with Luke. Why? Were we supposed to meet and I forgot again? Because I told you I was sorry about before-"

"No, we weren't. I was just curious, was that it? That's all you did yesterday?"

"Just about. What's with you and the twenty questions, writing a novel?"

"Just about? You aren't leaving anything out?"

"I don't have anyone following me around, keeping the minutes. What's this about?" Jess is getting less confused sounding and more annoyed.

"I thought you told me when the semester was over that you weren't going to hang around Chuck anymore." Oliver makes sure to keep his voice even, not wanting Jess to get on the defensive.

Jess furrows his brows. "That's what this is about? Chuck again? And where did you even hear about us 'hanging out'?"

Oliver pulls the flier out of his pocket, reading aloud the part that caught his attention. "'Jess and Chuck had nothing but great things to say about Miss Patty's brand new one-woman show'."

"Now that's a bold faced lie because I spent the entire time mocking the thing. Vicious mocking at that. I still have the bruises from Rory trying to get me to quit as proof." He grabs the paper out of his hand, scanning it over. "See, right here, 'Even without proper postage, this show delivers.' I know our mailman and he is not that funny. He still makes the, 'Hi hungry, I'm Ralph' jokes."

"I don't care about that, what's bothering me is that you kept this from me."

Jess scoffs. "I wasn't keeping this from you, I just didn't find it worth mentioning. The whole thing was a bore. Patty and Kirk were arguing so much, I thought I was back in New York with Liz and the boyfriend of the week a few times there."

Oliver sighs. "No, I just- From all the stories I've heard about this guy, I don't like the idea of you hanging around him."

"We said maybe two words to each other as we were held captive at that thing, I wouldn't exactly call it 'hanging out'. And you do realize we go to the same school _and_ live in the same fishbowl of a town, right? That's gonna make it a little hard to avoid him. Should I compile a list of every sighting, report back to you at the end of the day? Maybe I can just leap in bushes and trash cans, wait for him to pass so we don't make eye contact."

"Would you take this seriously?"

Jess laughs. "I would if this whole thing wasn't so ridiculous."

Oliver shakes his head, letting out a wry laugh. "Wow, okay. You know what, I'm not really in the mood to listen to music. Tell Lane and her band that I'm sorry." He stands from the couch, but before he can leave Jess grabs his hand, tugging a little.

"Stop, that's not what I meant. I only find it funny because I've known guys like Chuck all my life, they are all bark, no bite. Now please stay? I want you to stay."

Oliver bites his lip, staring at their still linked hands. "Promise?"

"I've seen all the D.A.R.E. posters, he so much as offers me a joint, I'll report him to the nearest adult that I trust. After all, weed is the gateway drug that's a slippery slope that leads to the harder stuff."

Oliver tries to keep a straight face, but can't help laughing a little at that.

"See, nothing to worry about." Jess says as he stands, using their hands to pull him in for a quick kiss. "I'm going to get some snacks while the others are still busy. I know Zack already spotted the grocery bags and that guy eats like a wild wildebeest."

Oliver chuckles. "Okay, I'll be just a minute."

He watches Jess head inside, sitting back on the couch after the door shuts. Picking up the flier Jess had tossed on the ground in annoyance, he studies it some more. He wants to believe Jess that everything is fine, he really does, but if he was able to lie _that_ smoothly about what he did yesterday, what else could he possibly be lying about. Or more accurately, not bringing up because he 'doesn't find it worth mentioning'.

Wanting to get rid of the bad feeling in his gut, he crumples up the flier and tosses it in the garbage on his way to the garage.

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Friday comes too quickly for Jess' liking, and in a perfect storm of events, everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. After school he spent some time alone on the dock to try and relax with a book, when out of nowhere this homicidal swan attacked him, giving him a black eye. He sneaks back in the apartment while Luke is working so he doesn't see him and freak out, changing and cleaning up his eye as best he can with the mediocre first aid kit they keep in the bathroom. The better one is kept downstairs in the diner, but he is not about to go down and let Luke see him, that would defeat the whole purpose of him avoiding the guy.

That all ended up taking longer than he expected, forcing him to leave a few minutes late, which in the long run didn't matter because he ended up stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the interstate. He turned on the radio, listening to the traffic report about a semi that crashed, blocking all the lanes going eastbound on the 84.

Starving from skipping lunch and his eye still throbbing, he switches his car into park for the time being and pulls his phone out to call ahead that he's going to be late, only to find his phone dead.

With a curse, he flips his phone shut and tosses it onto the passenger seat, turning his car off for good. Might as well save some gas since it looks like he's going to be here awhile.

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Rory's not sure who's more embarrassed, her or Oliver. After school let out, she went straight to her grandma's, not seeing the point in taking the bus all the way to Stars Hollow, only to have to turn right back around and head back into Hartford. Oliver showed up promptly at six, doing a good job at hiding his shock and annoyance that Jess isn't there yet. They sat in the lounge with their drinks and made small talk as they waited. About ten after six, Oliver excused himself to try calling Jess, but comes back quick saying it went straight to voicemail. Twenty minutes after the hour, Rory made the excuse to go to the bathroom, trying to call Jess herself only to go straight to voicemail as well.

Leaving a strongly worded voicemail, she stuffs her phone back in her little clutch and heads back out to the lounge. Oliver glances up at her questioningly, but she subtly shakes her head.

They weren't as subtle as she thought they were, because Emily assures them that he's probably caught in traffic and that she's glad to hear that he doesn't answer his phone while driving.

Right as the two teens share a look, there's a knock at the door. "That must be him now." Grandma smiles, getting to her feet. "See, nothing to worry about."

Rory gives her grandma props as she keeps a polite smile on her face, even after opening the door to find Jess standing there with a black eye, because her and Oliver certainly don't.

"What happened to your eye?" She asks for the both of them since Oliver seems a little more subdued around her grandma.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you about it later." He grits out, his bad mood coming off of him in waves.

Rory wants to push more, but it's not her place to, and she definitely doesn't want to start something in front of Oliver and her grandma.

Like the perfect hostess, her grandma keeps the pace moving by making a small joke about this being déjà vu to their first meeting, then ushers them into the dining room and telling a maid in passing to bring out the salads. Things were tense before Jess showed up, but now his presence only seemed to make things worse.

The salads arrive as they take their seats, Jess and Oliver together on one side, Rory across from them, and her grandma at the head in her usual spot.

"Oh dear, they forgot the rolls. I'm sorry, I'll be right back." Emily sighs, standing and heading for the kitchen.

"Why weren't you answering your phone? We kept calling you." Oliver hisses as soon as Emily's out of the room.

"It died." Jess mutters, pushing all the raisins in his salad to the side.

"And your eye?"

Jess sighs in frustration, setting his fork down none too gently. "Like I told Rory, it's a long story. I'll tell you later. For now, I just want to eat and get this stupid thing done with, so drop it."

Rory stares down at her plate, pushing her own salad around. She feels out of place as the two argue, but can't very well just up and leave. Luckily her grandma returns from the kitchen right then, making her feel less of a third wheel. "Any luck with the rolls, Grandma?" She asks aloud, the other two clamming up at the return of Emily.

"They will be out in just a minute. I swear, there is just no good help these days."

The rest of the dinner feels like it's just dragging as Rory and her grandma are the two carrying the conversations the most, Oliver trying his best to chime in now and again, while Jess stays silent almost the entire time, only speaking up when asked a direct question. Even then, his answers are short and to the point. She wishes her mom was there, she does a great job at making conversations less awkward, or at least at shifting the focus off one person and onto her.

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Jess couldn't get out of that house fast enough. Ever since he found out he was stuck going to this thing, he's been in a crappy mood. All the events leading up to it today only helped to sour his mood even further. With a curt goodbye, he's the first one out the door, waiting by his car as Rory went upstairs to grab her backpack and school uniform.

Leaning against his car, he pulls out a cigarette. "Damn it…" He shakes the lighter, hitting it against his palm. He finally gets a spark and lights his cigarette, only to have it snatched out of his mouth and stomped out.

"Okay, what the hell is your problem? Why are you acting like someone pissed in your cheerios?" Oliver hisses, mindful to keep his voice down since they are still right outside Emily's.

"My _problem,"_ He whispers back harshly. "Is that I didn't want to come to this _damn_ thing in the first place. And right now I'm currently pissed because that was my last cigarette you just snuffed out."

"Well, sorry for caring about your health. And you think _I_ wanted to spend my Friday night here either? I only accepted because it was the polite thing to do, she's practically your grandmother-"

"And that's just the thing!" Jess cuts him off, raising his voice above a whisper. "She is _not_ my grandmother! I am _not_ a _Gilmore!_ As much as we… play pretend that Lorelai is my mom and Rory is my sister, the truth is, they're not! I'm not from your guys' world. I mean, just look at my car versus yours, it's a piece of shit. I don't belong here."

"Don't say that, it's not true. And don't act like you don't care because we both know that's a lie." Oliver keeps his voice steady. "The reason you didn't tell Emily and Richard about us, and why we're having this whole dinner on a night when Richard is out of town, is because you _do_ care."

"Stop it." He growls.

Oliver continues on. "You care what they think of you and are scared of them rejecting you, which is bogus because they both clearly care about you. They support you and-"

"I said, stop it!" He booms, causing Oliver to freeze. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jess lowers his voice. "Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

Oliver shakes his head. "No, you never do. Fine, I'll stop, have it your way." He turns, heading for his car.

Jess pushes off his car, scrambling to get in front of Oliver and stop him. "No, don't leave, that's not-" He pushes past him, getting to his car. "You're right." He tries as a last ditch effort. "You're right, okay, you're right."

Oliver pauses with his hand on the door handle, silently waiting for him to continue.

"I have never had anything worth losing before, and I'm scared shitless constantly that the rug is just going to be pulled out from under me one of these days. A year ago, the only two people that gave a damn about me were Luke and Rory, and a year before that it was no one. Now, along with Luke and Rory, I've got you, Lorelai, Dean, Lane, Emily, Richard… hell, most of Stars Hollow all have their eyes on me, and if I make even the smallest screw up, the tiniest step out of line, they're all going to go back to hating me like before. And I can't lose this. I can't."

Oliver pulls him into a tight hug, which Jess returns with equal grip, burying his face into his shoulder. All the fight seems to have left both of them at this point, too tired to go on with all the arguing. "You aren't, I promise. You just need to talk to me. I had no idea the pressure you were feeling, and if I had I never would have jumped in and accepted the offer for this dinner. I'm sorry." They pull back, Oliver tucking some hair behind Jess' ear, then hovering his thumb over his black eye, getting a closer look at it. "This looks bad, does it hurt?"

"A bit, if I'm being honest. It'll heal though."

"How did it happen? It wasn't Chuck was it?"

Jess rolls his eyes. How do things always come back around to Chuck? "No, it had nothing to do with him." He hesitates before telling the truth though, knowing how lame it is that he got beaked by some damn waterfowl. "Eh, Dean and I were tossing a ball around. With hockey coming to an end soon, he wants to get ready for baseball. You know how I space out sometimes, this will teach me to pay a bit more attention to my surroundings."

He seems to buy it, shaking his head and chuckling. "How about we just agree, you and sports? Bad combo."

Jess chuckles himself, glad this fight finally seems to have blown over. "I'll definitely be sticking with my books from now on." They share a kiss. "Listen, I'm sorry I was such a jackass tonight. Next time will be better."

"Next time?"

"Next time." He confirms. "And who knows, maybe by then I'll have told Richard. About us."

Oliver smiles. "I'm looking forward to it." He glances over his shoulder at something behind him. "For now though, I think you owe someone else an apology as well."

He glances back, a seething Rory leaving the house. "This is going to be a fun forty minute drive. If you don't hear from me, assume she yanked the wheel from my hand and caused us to die in a fiery wreck."

"Whatever you say, drama queen. Bye, and good luck."

They share one more quick kiss, squeezing hands one last time before parting ways for the night.

As soon as she gets in the car, Rory pulls out a book from her backpack, making it clear she doesn't want to talk to him.

"Got everything?" He asks, the only reply he receives is the turning of a page. With a sigh, he starts the car, pulling out onto the road. A fun forty minutes indeed.

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For most of the drive, Jess kept trying to get Rory's attention so he could apologize, but she never once raises her head from her book. Even once the sun set and it should have been too dark, she just angled the book to the window, using the passing streetlights as a light source.

With a sigh of frustration, he snatches her book out of her hands and tosses it out of reach in the back seat.

"Hey!"

"I've been trying to talk to you for the past twenty minutes, it was either that or toss it out the window completely."

Rory huffs and crosses her arms. "Fine. What do you have to say?"

Suddenly, all the words he wanted to say have flown out of his head and he freezes.

"If you won't talk, then I will. Your whole attitude tonight was horrible. You show up late, never once apologize for it, and were rude to anyone who so much as looked at you. And not to mention showing up with a black eye on top of everything else. It was embarrassing."

With a jerk of the wheel, he pulls off to the shoulder and slams on the brakes, throwing the car into park. Spinning to face her completely, he explodes. "I'm sorry, alright! I'm sorry. I'm having an off day. What else do you want me to say?"

"So what? Just because you're in a crappy mood doesn't give you the excuse to treat everyone else around you like crap."

"You're right." He admits, lowering his voice. She looks at him in shock, so he continues. "And if it helps, I'll come with you and your mom to dinner next week and apologize to your grandma too."

"Really?" She asks in disbelieve. "You are voluntarily coming to a Friday night dinner?"

Jess rolls his eyes. "Yes. I'll be on my best behavior. I'll wear slacks, be friendly, make conversation, the whole nine yards. Okay?"

Rory seems to calm down, nodding. "Yeah, okay. But I'm holding you to that, mister. Including the slacks."

Jess chuckles a little, glad he smoothed things over. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he twists around and grabs her book from where he threw it earlier. "Here."

"Thanks." She fiddles with the book in her lap as he gets back on the road. Even with the air cleared between them, things still feel awkward. "So," Rory is the first to break the silence. "What _did_ happen to your eye?"

"Ah, jeez. You really couldn't wait, could you?"

"Were you in a fight?" She asks bluntly. "Because if you're fighting again-"

"It wasn't a fight." He cuts her off before she can start. "Seriously, what is with you people and jumping to that conclusion first?"

"If it wasn't a fight, then what? Trip and land on any door knobs lately?"

"No, of course not." He scoffs. Biting his lip, he debates telling her the lie he told Oliver. It's less humiliating, but with how rocky things are between them and the fact that she talks with Dean, he decides to land with the truth. "First, you have to promise not to laugh. I'm serious, I'm going to be seriously pissed if you laugh."

"Okay, I promise, no laughing." She raises one hand and lays the other one flat on top of her book. "I swear on Anne Sexton, I will not laugh."

"Fine. I was attacked by a swan." He glances over at Rory, who looks to be struggling to keep her composure. "See, I knew you'd laugh."

"Nope. Not laughing. Definitely not laughing." She's struggling, and failing he might add, to keep a straight face. He hears her snort.

"Sure, laugh about the fact that I could have had my eye beaked out by that feathered monster."

"'Beaked'? Is that even a word?" She finally laughs.

"Beaked, pecked, whatever. I could still get some freakish avian flu from the little shit." He listens to her continue to try and catch her breath from laughing so hard. "You know what, I regret telling you."

She clears her throat, getting her breathing under control. "No, it's not that. I was just thinking, we have terrible luck with animals. I get hit by a deer, and get run off the road by another,"

"I wonder if it was the same deer that had some grudge against you." He wonders aloud.

She continues on as if he never spoke. "And now you get attacked by a swan. We are definitely not animal people."

"Well, damn, there goes our chances of opening a deer and swan zoo."

"However will we cope?"

"Elk and geese zoo?"

"Now that's just unrealistic."

"My mistake."

They lapse into another silence, this one more manageable. "You know, you do belong." She says softly, staring down at her book. He glances at her, waiting for her to elaborate. "I mean, we're not just playing pretend. Grandpa and I really do enjoy having another person to talk about books with, and Mom likes having someone that can keep up with all her jokes and references, and even Grandma likes having someone to trash talk about Gran with. You belong with us."

Jess stares straight ahead at the road, knowing if he looks over he won't be able to look away again. "Has anyone ever told you that eavesdropping on another person's conversation is rude?"

"I didn't mean to. I was grabbing my stuff from my room upstairs and the window was cracked open. But, I, uh, just thought you should know, back when you ran away to New York and Mom came to get you, she was on the phone with me. We ignored it at the time, but when she was talking about you, she slipped up and called you my brother. Anyway, the point I'm trying to get at here is, we may not say it, but we all think of you as a part of the family."

Jess doesn't know how to respond to that, so he falls back on the only way he knows how, by not saying anything. Luckily Rory doesn't push any further, turning on the radio instead to fill the silence.

Jess pulls up to the Crap Shack, leaving the engine idling as he watches Rory gather her stuff to head inside.

"Thanks. For the things you said back there. They helped." He says weakly, not able to make eye contact.

Rory pauses, a soft smile settling on her face. "No problem. Goodnight, Jess."

"Night."

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"Shoot, forgot my wallet. I'll be right back."

Oliver pauses outside Luke's, watching Jess run back in and up the stairs. He's glad things are back to normal with Jess. Things between them had been so awkward and tense, they finally got a chance to really talk the day after the disastrous dinner and are back on the same page again.

Thinking back on it, he had no reason to be so frustrated with Jess. He's never given him any reason to doubt him or to think he's hiding anything. Sure, him being late and showing up with a black eye weren't him at his best, but from the sound of things, it was all out of his control. Now they just want to spend a relaxing Sunday together, no anger or biting comments.

"Hey." Oliver jumps, spinning around to find Dean grinning sheepishly. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"No, it's my fault, was lost in my head there for a minute. So, ready for baseball tryouts? Jess mentioned they're coming up soon."

Dean furrows his brow. "I'm actually skipping baseball this year. With work and school, I don't have the time. I could have sworn I told Jess that already."

Oliver's breathing gets stuck in his throat, but keeps a smile on his face for Dean's sake. "Oh, um, I'm sure you did and he just got mixed up. He can pick out the title and author of a book from a single quote, but have him try and point out the difference between a quarterback and a running back and he's stumped."

Dean chuckles, nodding his head. "Yeah, that's very true." He glances at his watch. "I really need to get back, I just wanted to say hey."

Oliver waves goodbye, keeping the smile on his face until Dean is gone from view, letting that smile slowly turn into a frown. If Dean isn't doing baseball, then how did Jess get his black eye? Maybe it was a fight. If it was with Chuck, then that would certainly explain the lying. God, just when he thought they were past all the lying, here it is again.

The door to the diner swings open, Jess running back out. "Okay, got everything. Ready to go?"

Oliver forces a smile back on his face, falling into step with Jess as they make their way to the car. "Yup. Let's get going." Well, so much for a relaxing Sunday.


End file.
